Producers' output and input prices fell in the September quarter in New Zealand, both influenced by falling dairy prices, data from Statistics New Zealand showed.
Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said on Monday the producers price index (PPI) outputs index fell 1.4 percent, while the inputs index was down 1.1
percent in the quarter.
A 24.3 percent fall in the dairy cattle farming index was the largest since the series started in 1994, and had the largest downward impact on output prices in the latest quarter, SNZ said.
The fall was driven by lower milk prices at the farmgate, which make up most of the dairy cattle farming index.
The largest downward impact on input prices was from the dairy product manufacturing index, which fell 20.9 percent, the largest fall in seven
years. It was also driven by lower milk prices at the farmgate.
The 10.9 percent fall in the dairy product manufacturing index, and the 9.2 percent fall in the petroleum, coal and basic chemical manufacturing index were also major downward contributors to the fall in output prices.
An 8.2 percent fall in the electricity generation and supply index contributed to the fall in input prices.
In the year to the September 2009 quarter, the PPI outputs index fell 2.1 percent and the PPI inputs index fell 5.8 percent. The annual fall in
the inputs index was the largest since the series started in 1977.